Various multi-pane primary window structures and storm window arrangements based on the thermal insulation achieved from a dead air space or spaces are known in the prior art. Prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,945 discloses the concept of venting a dead air space in a window unit to the ambient atmosphere during the summer and to an interior building space during winter. Such venting in the prior patent is accomplished by bodily pivoting or reversing the entire window frame in its opening in a building wall.
The present invention seeks to greatly improve on the known prior art by providing in a window of any necessary size or in a plurality of windows an automatic temperature-responsive damper system which under certain conditions will close and seal a solar plenum formed in each window unit between the spaced window panels thereof; and under other conditions will vent the plenum to the outside ambient atmosphere to dissipate heat, as in the summertime, or will vent the plenum to an inside room or building space to heat the latter by natural convection or by forced draft means, in some cases.
Various types of solar screens associated with windows are also known in the prior art. Such screens have the ability to intercept and absorb up to sixty percent of the sun's ray energy falling on a window. During summer, these solar screens create a serious problem in the dissipation of the heat energy absorbed by the solar screen or trapped between it and an adjacent glass pane or panel. During the winter, this same useful heat energy is wasted in known prior art devices.
Accordingly, a further important objective of this invention is to utilize a solar screen in conjunction with the window structure and its automatic damper system in such a way that the solar energy absorbed by the screen during summer will be efficiently dissipated without excessively heating the interior building space, and during the winter will not be wasted but rather will be utilized as part of a convection system to supplement the heating of an interior building space.
In its essential elements, the present invention comprises a window which can serve as a solar heater, passive or active, a solar screen and a storm window. The invention may be embodied in many different types of windows, small or large, as well as in floor-to-ceiling glass panels commonly found in large buildings.
In summer, the window unit acts as a solar screen rejecting the sun's energy to the outside. During the night, the window like any multi-panel type having a dead air space minimizes loss of interior cooling.
In winter, the window unit serves as a solar heater of interior building spaces, and during the night acts as a storm window minimizing conduction and radiation of heat to the outside.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.